Areawide integrated pest management program for commercial grain stores

摘要

A decision-support system, Stored Grain Advisor Pro, was developed to conduct risk analysis of large concrete commercial elevator facilities. A vacuum-probe sampler was used to take ten 3-kg grain samples in the top 12 m of each bin at grain elevators. After the insect species and numbers are determined for each sample, the data are entered into the risk analysis software. The program uses a model to predict future risk based on current insect density, grain temperature and moisture. The information is presented as a bin board layout to the manager. Recommended treatment strategies and an economic analysis are presented to the manager. Stored Grain Advisor correctly predicted for 71-80 percent of bins whether they were either safe or at high risk.In only 2 of 399 bins in Kansas, and in zero bins in Oklahoma, did it predict that bins were safe when in fact they became infested 6 weeks later. Elevator operators using the program tended to fumigate only the bins with high insect densities, rather than fumigating all bins. This resulted in better grain management because treating bins only when insect densities exceed economic thresholds and treating only the bins that need to be treated minimises the risk of economic losses from unexpected insectproblems, and reduces the cost of pest management and the use of fumigant.